Wrasslin' Fan

Karnak commits suicide at the end of Inhumanity #1. Rogue and the Scarlet Witch are killed off at the end of Uncanny Avengers #14. Now, this week, to end Secret Avengers #13, the Taskmaster is shot in the head and killed.

All three endings, coming in such short order, really highlight to me just how often this type of "shock" ending has been used in comics recently. It's gotten to a point, that for me, these deaths are not shocking and neither are they anywhere near as impactful as the writers are intending them to be. Other than their overuse, the other problem these ending have is the the shear number of times that Marvel and DC have brought characters back from the dead. The Scarlet Witch and Rogue aren't going to remain dead, we all know this. Karnak and the Taskmaster aren't at the same level, but they're also both major enough that I can't imagine them staying dead forever.

After getting hit with this over load of "shocking" deaths, there a huge part of me that just wants both Marvel and DC to just stop.

Wrasslin' Fan

Karnak commits suicide at the end of Inhumanity #1. Rogue and the Scarlet Witch are killed off at the end of Uncanny Avengers #14. Now, this week, to end Secret Avengers #13, the Taskmaster is shot in the head and killed.

All three endings, coming in such short order, really highlight to me just how often this type of "shock" ending has been used in comics recently. It's gotten to a point, that for me, these deaths are not shocking and neither are they anywhere near as impactful as the writers are intending them to be. Other than their overuse, the other problem these ending have is the the shear number of times that Marvel and DC have brought characters back from the dead. The Scarlet Witch and Rogue aren't going to remain dead, we all know this. Karnak and the Taskmaster aren't at the same level, but they're also both major enough that I can't imagine them staying dead forever.

After getting hit with this over load of "shocking" deaths, there a huge part of me that just wants both Marvel and DC to just stop.

penile prisoner

It's the bringing them back thing that makes it a problem for me. I just can't bring myself to care when I know they're going to be right back again.

Here's an interesting idea for a 'What If?'

"What if every character who has 'died' since the comic book universe began had stayed dead?"

What would the world look like now? Might be an interesting story.

"The trouble with fighting for human freedom is that one spends most of one's time defending scoundrels. For it is against scoundrels that oppressive laws are first aimed, and oppression must be stopped at the beginning if it is to be stopped at all."

-H. L. Mencken

3MJ

by 3MJ » Sun Dec 22, 2013 4:32 pm

Deaths aren't the problem.

Resurrections are.

There's what? About 100 comics from DC and Marvel in the last month? And about four characters have died. That's hardly anything.

Wrasslin' Fan

There's what? About 100 comics from DC and Marvel in the last month? And about four characters have died. That's hardly anything.

The problem is the overuse of both. Four deaths, all happening within a month is a lot in that short period of time. By the time I read Secret Avengers this week and got to Taskmaster's death there was absolutely no impact in what I read. My reaction was, "not another one." That's a reaction that, I think I can guarantee, the writer for Secret Avengers wasn't going for.

It may not be a problem with individual writers, but it is a problem with editing and the communication between editors. A comic book company should not be having that many endings that are that similar in that short a period of time.

There's what? About 100 comics from DC and Marvel in the last month? And about four characters have died. That's hardly anything.

The problem is the overuse of both. Four deaths, all happening within a month is a lot in that short period of time. By the time I read Secret Avengers this week and got to Taskmaster's death there was absolutely no impact in what I read. My reaction was, "not another one." That's a reaction that, I think I can guarantee, the writer for Secret Avengers wasn't going for.

It may not be a problem with individual writers, but it is a problem with editing and the communication between editors. A comic book company should not be having that many endings that are that similar in that short a period of time.

Rain Partier

PDH wrote:It's the bringing them back thing that makes it a problem for me. I just can't bring myself to care when I know they're going to be right back again.

Here's an interesting idea for a 'What If?'

"What if every character who has 'died' since the comic book universe began had stayed dead?"

What would the world look like now? Might be an interesting story.

Lets see. Off the top of my head:

Half of the MU "died" during the Infinity Gauntlet thing.Captain America was "killed" by Crossbones.Thor "died" during Ragnarok.Reed, Ben & Johnny have all been "dead" at least once.Tony Stark "died" in the Crossing, just before Heroes Reborn.Spider-Man "died" during the Other.Vision & Hawkeye was "killed" by Scarlet Witch. Wolverine "died" and had a demon take over his body in Aaron's run.Nightcrawler "died" and is coming back now.Cyclops "died" after bonding with Apocalypse.Etc.

DC's not much better, as we saw during Blackest Night.

All of the JLA "died" during the Obsidian Age & Batman made plans for a replacement league.Hal Jordan "died" and bonded with the Spectre.Batman "died" in R.I.P/Final Crisis"The Death of Superman" was a big selling event.Oliver Queen & Barry Allen hung out in Heaven during Kevin Smith's run.And so forth.

Rain Partier

PDH wrote:It's the bringing them back thing that makes it a problem for me. I just can't bring myself to care when I know they're going to be right back again.

Here's an interesting idea for a 'What If?'

"What if every character who has 'died' since the comic book universe began had stayed dead?"

What would the world look like now? Might be an interesting story.

Lets see. Off the top of my head:

Half of the MU "died" during the Infinity Gauntlet thing.Captain America was "killed" by Crossbones.Thor "died" during Ragnarok.Reed, Ben & Johnny have all been "dead" at least once.Tony Stark "died" in the Crossing, just before Heroes Reborn.Spider-Man "died" during the Other.Vision & Hawkeye was "killed" by Scarlet Witch. Wolverine "died" and had a demon take over his body in Aaron's run.Nightcrawler "died" and is coming back now.Cyclops "died" after bonding with Apocalypse.Etc.

DC's not much better, as we saw during Blackest Night.

All of the JLA "died" during the Obsidian Age & Batman made plans for a replacement league.Hal Jordan "died" and bonded with the Spectre.Batman "died" in R.I.P/Final Crisis"The Death of Superman" was a big selling event.Oliver Queen & Barry Allen hung out in Heaven during Kevin Smith's run.And so forth.

dINGO

It's been around for awhile, but IMHO Didiot (and Johns) really ramped this up. They killed, maimed and raped more characters than I ever thought possible.So much so that it lost all meaning and they wrote their books into a corner, where they felt it was necessary to reboot things... and then started doing the same thing over and over.I personally liked it when heros were 'near death' but would bounce back at the last moment. I mean, how many deaths did DC oversee that were never avenged or even acknowledged?Classic example - Johns built up Dr Fate (Hector) as Hawkman's son .. had this great relationship between them .. had Hector and Lyla die at Spectre's hands in JSA .. and, nothing.Oh, your son and daughter in law died. But we'll pretend as though it's business as usual.Marvel's the same, but DC I feel is worse. They made death so common that it's a non event, thus killing what could be a great plot device.

dINGO

It's been around for awhile, but IMHO Didiot (and Johns) really ramped this up. They killed, maimed and raped more characters than I ever thought possible.So much so that it lost all meaning and they wrote their books into a corner, where they felt it was necessary to reboot things... and then started doing the same thing over and over.I personally liked it when heros were 'near death' but would bounce back at the last moment. I mean, how many deaths did DC oversee that were never avenged or even acknowledged?Classic example - Johns built up Dr Fate (Hector) as Hawkman's son .. had this great relationship between them .. had Hector and Lyla die at Spectre's hands in JSA .. and, nothing.Oh, your son and daughter in law died. But we'll pretend as though it's business as usual.Marvel's the same, but DC I feel is worse. They made death so common that it's a non event, thus killing what could be a great plot device.

Rain Partier

BubbaKanoosh wrote:We get it, you like murders in comics... quit trying to make comics realistic. In a world where men can turn into fire and people shoot lasers from their eyes, realistic is out the window.

Rain Partier

BubbaKanoosh wrote:We get it, you like murders in comics... quit trying to make comics realistic. In a world where men can turn into fire and people shoot lasers from their eyes, realistic is out the window.